Oct., 1875.] ELLIOTT SOCIETY. 77 



I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Bland for the determination of the specific 

 name. 



Specimens of the dead shells have been deposited in the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. , in the cabinets of Mr. W. G. Binuey and 

 Mr. Thos. Bland, and may be seen in my own collection. * 



Dr. G. E. Manigaiilt made a verbal communication concerning 

 the head of the Kattlesnake, with special reference to the loss and 

 reproduction of its fangs, and tlie manner in which the poison is 

 injected into a wound. 



By an examination of the osteology of the head and the attachment of the 

 fangs to the upper jaw, it would appear that the canal occupying the centre of 

 each fang, through which it is commonly supposed that the poison is admitted 

 to a wound, is not open at its base, and consequently does not communicate 

 with the poison gland. When a fang that has been broken off from the head 

 is examined, the canal is found to be quite large at its base and entirely open, 

 but reference is now made to the fang as attached to the head, when no open- 

 ing at its base can be observed. The conclusion naturally follows that the 

 poison is injected into the wound by being around the fang, and not from 

 having passed through it. The specimen examined is Orotcdus adamanteus, 

 the largest of the many varieties of rattlesnake, which is confined to the sea- 

 board of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In addition to the 

 fangs which are in position are four others on each side, in successive stages of 

 growth, all of which are, during life, held in a fold of the mucous membrane of 

 the mouth. This large supply of constantly growing fangs would appear to 

 indicate that, whenever a wound is made by the snake, the fangs are probably 

 broken off, and, while the digestion of the animal that has been swallowed is 

 going on, there is time for two other fangs to be secured to the jaw by bony 

 attachment. 



The following paper was read : 



SYNOPTICAL TABLE OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. 



BY PKOF. LEWIS E. GIBBES, OF COLLEGE OF CHAELESTON, S. C. 



Feom time to time, during the last twenty-five years, the attention of Chem- 

 ists has been directed to the numerical relations of the atomic weights of mem- 

 bers of the same group of chemical elements, and also to like relations between 

 members of different groups. 



* TMs Note was published In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, 1876 ; the cut of the lingual dentition was kindly loaned hy the AcademJ^ 

 that of the sheU, an electrotype of Mr. Bmney's fig. 508, Manual American Laud Shells, 

 was obtained through the courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution. W.G.M., Feh., 1886. 



